In the wake of youth, dreams and games of innocence begin to crumble.
Encina and Santiago were ascending the Camino de la Virgen towards their grandmother’s vineyard. They had been tasked with pruning the vine. Spring filled the air with life, and passion burned in Santi’s heart.
«Encina, I will help you, your grandma is very ill.» – Santiago said, Encina was annoyed by the errand.
«It’s always me who has to work in the vineyard!» – Encina and Santiago past the Fountain of San Lázaro, on their way to ‘las murias‘, they stumbled upon an old stone hut from which a trickle of water flowed. – «Santi, let’s drink water!»
The Discovery
«The hut is closed, we shouldn’t touch anything.» – Santiago answer.
«No one will find out, fool! We’ll leave everything as it is now.» – Obediently, Santiago forced the door open with some wooden pegs. A brilliant stream of fresh water ran through a small stone channel.
«And now, how do we drink? I’m thirsty, help me!» – He thought about running to the village square to get a glass for Encina, but he didn’t want to leave her alone. He looked around for solutions. Suddenly, he had an idea: a dry fennel stalk. If he cut it carefully, they could use it as a drinking straw. Santiago cut off a portion of the stalk with a little knife he always carried. Encina received the stalk with a smile, brought her mouth to the water, the stalk to her lips, and drank gratefully. She tried to return the invention to Santiago when, in swift flight, a hoopoe bird took the straw, leaving the boy without his precious device.
«Ugly bird! It took your gadget.» – Encina cried.
«Damn!»
«Now you won’t be able to drink. But birds have beaks and can’t use straws…»
«Rogue!» – Santiago pretended to be annoyed, while Encina smiled beside him; now, he was no longer thirsty.